A Room with a View — Page 3
He was probably trying to become acquainted with them before they got into the swim.
Il essayait probablement de faire leur connaissance avant qu'ils ne se retrouvent tous ensemble.
So she assumed a dazed expression when he spoke to her, and then said: "A view? Oh, a view! How delightful a view is!"
Aussi prit-elle un air hébété lorsqu'il lui adressa la parole, et dit-elle alors : « Une vue ? Oh, une vue ! Comme une vue est délicieuse ! »
"This is my son," said the old man; "his name's George. He has a view too."
« Voici mon fils, » dit le vieil homme ; « il s'appelle George. Il a aussi une vue. »
"Ah," said Miss Bartlett, repressing Lucy, who was about to speak.
« Ah, » dit Miss Bartlett, retenant Lucy, qui était sur le point de parler.
"What I mean," he continued, "is that you can have our rooms, and we'll have yours. We'll change."
« Ce que je veux dire, » continua-t-il, « c'est que vous pouvez prendre nos chambres, et nous prendrons les vôtres. Nous échangerons. »
The better class of tourist was shocked at this, and sympathized with the new-comers.
Les touristes de la bonne société en furent choqués et témoignèrent leur sympathie aux nouveaux arrivants.
Miss Bartlett, in reply, opened her mouth as little as possible, and said "Thank you very much indeed; that is out of the question."
Miss Bartlett, en réponse, entrouvrit à peine la bouche et dit : « Je vous remercie infiniment ; c'est hors de question. »
"Why?" said the old man, with both fists on the table.
« Pourquoi ? » dit le vieil homme, les deux poings posés sur la table.
"Because it is quite out of the question, thank you."
« Parce que c'est tout à fait hors de question, je vous remercie. »
"You see, we don't like to take—" began Lucy. Her cousin again repressed her.
« Voyez-vous, nous n'aimons pas accepter— » commença Lucy. Sa cousine la fit taire de nouveau.
"But why?" he persisted. "Women like looking at a view; men don't."
« Mais pourquoi ? » insista-t-il. « Les femmes aiment contempler une vue ; les hommes, non. »
And he thumped with his fists like a naughty child, and turned to his son, saying, "George, persuade them!"
Et il tapa des poings comme un enfant mal élevé, et se tourna vers son fils en disant : « George, persuade-les ! »
"It's so obvious they should have the rooms," said the son. "There's nothing else to say."
« Il est tellement évident qu'elles devraient avoir les chambres, » dit le fils. « Il n'y a rien d'autre à dire. »
He did not look at the ladies as he spoke, but his voice was perplexed and sorrowful.
Il ne regarda pas les dames en parlant, mais sa voix était perplexe et mélancolique.
Vocabulary
- essayait
- Was trying or attempting to do something
- probablement
- Probably; used to express likelihood or probability
- faire
- To do or to make; common infinitive verb
- leur
- Their; possessive adjective or indirect object pronoun
- connaissance
- Acquaintance; knowledge or familiarity with someone
- avant
- Before; indicating time or order of events
- retrouvent
- Find themselves again; meet up or reunite together
- tous
- All; every one, referring to a masculine plural group
- ensemble
- Together; all in one group at the same time
- Aussi
- Also; therefore; used as connective or additive adverb
- prit
- Took; simple past tense of 'prendre' (to take)
- air
- Expression or appearance; also air or atmosphere
- hébété
- Dazed, stupefied, or with a blank vacant expression
- lorsqu'
- When; conjunction introducing a temporal clause
- adressa
- Addressed or spoke to someone directly
- parole
- Word or speech; spoken language or address
- dit
- Said; simple past tense of 'dire' (to say)
- alors
- Then; so; at that moment or consequently
- vue
- View or sight; a scenic or visual perspective
- Comme
- How; as; like; used in exclamations or comparisons
- délicieuse
- Delicious or delightful; feminine form of délicieux
- Voici
- Here is; used to present or introduce something
- fils
- Son; male offspring of a parent
- vieil
- Old; masculine adjective used before a vowel sound
- homme
- Man; adult male human being
- s'appelle
- Is called or named; reflexive verb s'appeler
- aussi
- Also; too; likewise; used to add information
- retenant
- Holding back; present participle of retenir
- point
- Point; here used in 'sur le point de' (about to)
- parler
- To speak or to talk; common infinitive verb
- veux
- Want; first person singular of 'vouloir'
- dire
- To say or to mean; common infinitive verb
- continua
- Continued; simple past of 'continuer' (to continue)
- pouvez
- Can or are able to; second person plural of pouvoir
- prendre
- To take; common infinitive verb used frequently
- chambres
- Rooms; bedrooms or hotel rooms
- prendrons
- Will take; first person plural future of prendre
- vôtres
- Yours; possessive pronoun referring to plural things
- échangerons
- We will exchange or swap; future tense of échanger
- touristes
- Tourists; people travelling for leisure or sightseeing
- société
- Society; social class or community of people
- furent
- Were; simple past plural of 'être' (to be)
- choqués
- Shocked or offended; past participle of choquer
- témoignèrent
- Showed or expressed; simple past of témoigner
- sympathie
- Sympathy; feeling of compassion or understanding for others
- nouveaux
- New; masculine plural adjective meaning newly arrived
- arrivants
- Arrivals; people who have just arrived somewhere
- réponse
- Answer or reply; response to a question or situation
- entrouvrit
- Half-opened; simple past of entrouvrir (to open slightly)
- peine
- Barely; hardly; also means sorrow or difficulty
- bouche
- Mouth; the opening in the face used for speaking
- remercie
- Thank; first person singular of remercier (to thank)
- infiniment
- Infinitely; extremely; used to intensify gratitude
- hors
- Out of; outside; used in phrases like hors question
- question
- Question; also used in 'hors de question' (out of question)
- Pourquoi
- Why; interrogative adverb asking for a reason
- poings
- Fists; clenched hands used in gestures of emotion
- posés
- Placed or rested; past participle of poser (to place)
- table
- Table; a piece of furniture with a flat surface
- tout
- All or everything; used in many common expressions
- fait
- Done or made; past participle of faire (to do)
- Voyez
- See or look; second person plural imperative of voir
- n'aimons
- Do not like; negated first person plural of aimer
- accepter
- To accept; to receive or agree to something offered
- commença
- Began or started; simple past of commencer
- cousine
- Female cousin; a relative through extended family
- fit
- Made or caused; simple past of faire (to make/do)
- taire
- To silence; to make quiet; used in 'se taire'
- nouveau
- Again or new; used in 'de nouveau' meaning once more
- Mais
- But; coordinating conjunction expressing contrast
- pourquoi
- Why; interrogative adverb asking for explanation
- insista
- Insisted; simple past of insister (to insist)
- femmes
- Women or wives; plural of femme
- aiment
- Like or love; third person plural of aimer
- contempler
- To contemplate or gaze at; to observe thoughtfully
- hommes
- Men; plural of homme (man)
- tapa
- Tapped or banged; simple past of taper (to tap/hit)
- comme
- Like or as; conjunction used in comparisons
- enfant
- Child; a young boy or girl
- mal
- Badly or poorly; adverb indicating lack of good behavior
- élevé
- Raised or brought up; also meaning well or badly bred
- tourna
- Turned; simple past of tourner (to turn)
- vers
- Toward; preposition indicating direction
- disant
- Saying; present participle of dire (to say)
- persuade
- Convinced or persuaded; believes something strongly
- tellement
- So much; to such a degree; intensifying adverb
- évident
- Obvious or evident; clearly apparent without explanation
- devraient
- Should; conditional of devoir expressing obligation
- avoir
- To have; fundamental auxiliary and lexical verb
- y
- There; pronoun replacing a previously mentioned place
- rien
- Nothing; negative pronoun used with 'ne'
- d'autre
- Else or other; used after 'rien' meaning nothing else
- regarda
- Looked at; simple past of regarder (to look at)
- dames
- Ladies; polite term for women in a social setting
- parlant
- Speaking; present participle of parler (to speak)
- mais
- But; conjunction expressing contrast or opposition
- voix
- Voice; the sound produced when someone speaks or sings
- perplexe
- Perplexed or puzzled; confused and uncertain about something
- mélancolique
- Melancholic or sad; feeling of pensive sadness or gloom
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